Church must 'remain vigilant' to protect children

Catholic News Service

3/04/16

WASHINGTON - A Pennsylvania grand jury report on clergy
sexual abuse of hundreds of children over several decades and
an Oscar win for "Spotlight," about the Boston abuse scandal,
"brought painful, but important, reminders that we must
remain vigilant in our efforts to protect children from the
scourge of abuse," said Bishop Edward J. Burns of Juneau,
Alaska.

The bishop made the comments in a March 3 statement as
chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops'
Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People.

"We must never lose sight of the fact that every
victim/survivor has personally experienced profound injury,
suffering and betrayal," Bishop Burns said.

He referred to the report released March 1 by Attorney
General Kathleen G. Kane, which says that at least 50 priests
or religious leaders in the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown,
Pennsylvania, were involved in the abuse and diocesan leaders
systematically concealed the abuse to protect the church's
image.

The report identifies priests and other leaders by name and
details incidents going back to the 1970s. Kane said that
much of the evidence revealed in the report came from secret
archives maintained by the diocese that was only available to
the bishops who led the diocese over the decades. The report
also took law enforcement to task for "perhaps looking the
other way."

The report credited Bishop Mark L. Bartchak, the current
bishop of Altoona-Johnstown, who was appointed to the diocese
in 2011, for reporting abuse allegations to authorities and
removing accused priests from ministry.

"It is heart wrenching and shocking to hear of this grand
jury report or of any incidents of abuse, and it is even more
disturbing when we learn that innocent children were abused
by priests within the church," Bishop Burns said in his
statement. "Once again, the wounds inflicted through these
heinous crimes have caused great pain and further mistrust in
the church."

He said that although he could not speak to the specifics in
Altoona-Johnstown "and would defer to the Pennsylvania
Catholic Conference as to any statewide impact, like
everyone, I read the news with great pain."

He noted that the movie "Spotlight," which won the Academy
Award for Best Picture, "chronicles the courage of the
victims and the journalists" who told abuse victims/survivors
story." The film is about the Boston Globe in 2002 breaking
the story on the abuse scandal when it began publishing
articles about the sexual abuse of minors by priests and
accusations of a systemic cover-up by church officials.

Bishop Burns referred to remarks about the film from the
current archbishop of Boston, Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley, and
from L'Osservatore Romano. Both the paper and the
cardinal said "Spotlight" was an important film for all who
have been impacted by the tragedy of abuse.

"These moments are a reminder why the 'Charter for the
Protection of Children and Young People,' adopted by the U.S.
bishops in 2002, exists and must be followed," Bishop Burns
said. "This highlights all the more the importance that we
never grow complacent. As stated in the charter, we are to
cooperate with law enforcement agencies, permanently remove
those who have offended, and effectively create a safe
environment for our children."

"Only with vigilance can we ensure that children are kept
safe and so allow the church to help our people in a process
of healing and address the mistrust that rises from these
cases," Bishop Burns said.